Keeping Pediatric Patients Safe with Virtual Sitting

Caring for children in the inpatient setting presents unique challenges for hospitals across the nation. Similar to adults, kids can interfere with medical devices, elope from the hospital, and sustain injuries from falls, but their primary needs tend to differ and nurses caring for these patients need different support. Pediatric patients have always required a different touch, but the situation is being exacerbated by persistent staffing shortages and the concurrent mental health crisis amongst young Americans. Youth patients in need of behavioral health services are being kept in the ED due to a lack of mental health facilities and appropriate staffing. This makes providing safe and effective care to this important patient cohort costly, ineffective and resource intensive.  

Advances in technology, like virtual sitting, have proven to support adequate staffing and allow children to be safe and well cared for. Hear how nurse leaders at a children’s hospital and an acute-care hospital are using virtual sitting for pediatric and adolescent patients and have succeeded in reducing adverse events while also reducing stress on families and caregivers. In addition, they will discuss the policies and procedures to consider and how to get buy-in from your team for this specific patient population.